tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/sport-in-society-5908/articlesSport in society – The Conversation2023-12-18T22:48:17Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2197962023-12-18T22:48:17Z2023-12-18T22:48:17Z‘Politically neutral’ Russian athletes can now enter the Olympics – but don’t expect many to compete<p>Earlier this month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Russian and Belarussian athletes <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/strict-eligibility-conditions-in-place-as-ioc-eb-approves-individual-neutral-athletes-ains-for-the-olympic-games-paris-2024">will be able to compete</a> in the 2024 Paris Olympics if they are politically neutral. The decision from the committee’s executive board reversed an earlier ban. </p>
<p>The IOC made this change even though the Russian National Olympic Committee remains suspended from competition for its <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-executive-board-suspends-russian-olympic-committee-with-immediate-effect">violation</a> of “the territorial integrity of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine”. For its part, Russia <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/12/09/1218406353/russian-belarus-athletes-ioc-2024-olympic-games">rejects</a> the decision.</p>
<p>The committee’s decision has enraged Western leaders, particularly those in Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba <a href="https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1142889/kyiv-says-ioc-encouraging-war-ukraine">accused</a> the committee of effectively giving “[…] Russia the green light to weaponize the Olympics”.</p>
<p>While it might seem like a good idea not to hold individual athletes responsible for the decisions of governments, the decision is more complicated that it appears.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/refugee-team-offers-a-way-for-russian-and-belarusian-dissidents-to-compete-at-the-paris-olympics-202427">Refugee team offers a way for Russian and Belarusian dissidents to compete at the Paris Olympics</a>
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<h2>Athletes caught in the middle</h2>
<p>More than 30 Western nations, including Australia, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/dec/08/athletes-who-have-not-supported-ukraine-war-to-compete-at-paris-2024">have previously called for</a> a complete ban on Russian participation in the Games. </p>
<p>IOC President Thomas Bach <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67711799">defended his decision</a> by arguing “individual athletes cannot be punished for the acts of their governments”. </p>
<p>The ruling came with <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/strict-eligibility-conditions-in-place-as-ioc-eb-approves-individual-neutral-athletes-ains-for-the-olympic-games-paris-2024">strict conditions</a>. Athletes must not be open supporters of the Russian invasion and they cannot be affiliated with Russian or Belarussian military or security services.</p>
<p>They cannot compete under their home country’s flag, or with national emblems or anthems.</p>
<p>The committee estimates that only 11 athletes – six Russians and five Belarussians – will qualify under these regulations.</p>
<p>The committee has been <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/64604212">slowly working towards this policy</a> since the spring of 2023. </p>
<p>The call may seem reasonable. After all, why should Russian and Belarussian athletes, especially those not supportive of the invasion, suffer from the actions of their government?</p>
<p>But it’s not quite that cut and dry.</p>
<h2>Different, inconsistent approaches</h2>
<p>The rule change seems inconsistent. As the committee continues to ban the participation of Russian teams, not all neutral Russian and Belarussian athletes will be able to participate. </p>
<p>Sporting federations can also continue to ban Russian and Belarussian athletes from competition and therefore qualification for the Games. World Athletics President <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/world-athletics-defies-ioc-maintains-113900349.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAK8RYILhtTwcf8F72FRd3jOng0u7BeehrhgaTPszxpb7HT9ufXfwDnRCQSfZc9McQRQCjCxxmdsURC3tDSmswrm1A60uNAT8dg">Seb Coe confirmed</a> that the organisation will continue to ban them. </p>
<p>By contrast, World Taekwondo and World Judo have both allowed Russian and Belarussian athletes to <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/media/q-a-on-solidarity-with-ukraine-sanctions-against-russia-and-belarus-and-the-status-of-athletes-from-these-countries">compete in qualification</a>.</p>
<p>In September, the International Paralympic Committee also decided neutral athletes <a href="https://www.paralympic.org/news/ipc-general-assembly-partially-suspends-npc-russia">can compete</a>.</p>
<h2>What can Ukraine’s allies do?</h2>
<p>With the Paris 2024 games only seven months away, the IOC’s decision seems final. But frustrated Western leaders have other options. </p>
<p>In the past year, Western officials have <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2023/03/30/paris-olympics-if-russian-athletes-are-cleared-to-compete-will-a-boycott-threat-have-any-e#:%7E:text=Ukraine%20has%20threatened%20to%20boycott,the%202024%20Paris%20Olympic%20Games.">threatened to boycott</a> the Olympics if Russian and Belarussian athletes competed. </p>
<p>There is a long history of politically motivated Olympic boycotts and threatened boycotts. In 1980, the United States and 66 other countries boycotted the Moscow games <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/12/08/history-olympic-games-boycotts/">in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan</a>. Eight other countries, including Australia, competed under an Olympic flag to signal their opposition to the invasion. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-year-of-sporting-mega-events-the-brisbane-olympics-can-learn-a-lot-from-the-ones-that-fail-their-host-cities-187838">In a year of sporting mega-events, the Brisbane Olympics can learn a lot from the ones that fail their host cities</a>
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<p>In 1984, in response, the Soviet Union and its allies boycotted the summer Olympics in Los Angeles. </p>
<p>A boycott of the Paris Olympics would be devastating to the organisers, but it remains very unlikely. France is a Western nation and a strong supporter of Ukraine. President Emmanuel Macron recently <a href="https://www.barrons.com/news/eu-should-give-ukraine-full-and-enduring-support-macron-65f3b496?refsec=topics_afp-news">encouraged the European Union</a> to continue supporting the beleaguered nation.</p>
<p>As a more palatable approach, Western leaders could ban athletes from Russia and Belarus from competing in international athletic competitions in Western Europe in the run-up to the games. This would likely make it impossible for any athletes from those countries to qualify for spots in Paris. </p>
<p>As historian Heather Dichter <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/190/monograph/chapter/3034403">has shown</a>, travel bans have a long history in the Olympics. </p>
<p>In the 1960s, there was a <a href="https://members.shafr.org/assets/docs/Passport/2022/September-2022/passport-09-2022-dichter.pdf">NATO-wide ban on East German athletes</a> travelling to compete in events in Western European countries. This effectively barred them from participation in several major sporting competitions and from qualifying for the Olympics. </p>
<p>Some Western leaders have already attempted to use this strategy against Russian and Belarussian athletes. Polish President Andrzej Duda <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/media/q-a-on-solidarity-with-ukraine-sanctions-against-russia-and-belarus-and-the-status-of-athletes-from-these-countries">refused to issue visas</a> to Russian and Belarussian fencers for a qualification competition in June. The International Fencing Federation moved the matches to Bulgaria where the neutral athletes could compete. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gender-inequality-will-still-be-an-issue-at-the-paris-2024-olympics-despite-the-games-being-gender-balanced-210883">Gender inequality will still be an issue at the Paris 2024 Olympics — despite the Games being gender-balanced</a>
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<p>As a more drastic step, French officials could simply ban all Russian and Belarussian athletes from travelling to Paris during the Olympics. The committee would likely have no recourse at this late date.</p>
<p>It would would align with the approach of some other EU member nations that <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230523-russian-tourists-seek-new-destinations-as-europe-shuts-its-doors-over-ukraine-war">ban Russian tourism and travel</a>. </p>
<p>However, the French National Olympic Committee would likely oppose such a move. They might worry that it threatens the viability of their likely future <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/the-french-alps-and-salt-lake-city-utah-invited-into-respective-targeted-dialogues-to-host-the-olympic-and-paralympic-winter-games-2030-and-2034">2030 Winter Olympic Games</a>.</p>
<p>At a time when so much international attention has turned to the Israel/Hamas war, will leaders, however frustrated, do anything in response?</p>
<p>Only time will tell, but one thing’s for sure: whatever happens will be carefully calculated to account for the vast array of geopolitical moving parts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219796/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Rathbone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The International Olympic Committee has ruled politically-neutral individual athletes are eligible, but some nations aren’t happy about it.Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/757112017-04-06T14:47:12Z2017-04-06T14:47:12ZSport for peace and development: Zambia shows how it can be done<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164041/original/image-20170405-11398-zpekjl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A fast-paced soccer game in Zambia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Iain Lindsay</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>-Sport has the potential to change lives. High profile examples of individual sportsmen and women often receive significant publicity, like the <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/rio-2016-refugee-olympic-team.html">ten refugee athletes</a> who competed at the Rio Olympics in 2016, or the <a href="http://afkinsider.com/93557/12-of-the-most-charitable-african-footballers/">charitable work</a> done by football stars who use their fame to support their communities. The media loves such stories.</p>
<p>But sport is also changing lives through community projects all over the world, far more quietly and below the media radar. That’s why April 6 each year is marked as the <a href="https://www.un.org/sport/node/203641">International Day of Sport for Development and Peace</a>. Organised by the United Nations, it celebrates projects that <a href="https://www.un.org/sport/content/about-unosdp/international-day-sport-development-and-peace">value</a> “the positive influence that sport can have on the advancement of human rights, and social and economic development”.</p>
<p>Our recently published book, <a href="http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781784994068/">Localizing Global Sport for Development</a>, focused on such projects in Zambia. We wanted to understand sport for development and peace as it’s organised and experienced in Zambia by local staff, volunteers and young people. The projects use sports such as netball, football and volleyball to get young people active, develop their leadership skills and provide them with support networks outside their homes and schools.</p>
<p>Sport has been <a href="http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E">recognised</a> by the UN as an important enabler of sustainable development and a way to empower young people. So these organisations’ experiences – both their successes and their challenges – can offer valuable lessons to similar sport for development and peace initiatives elsewhere in the world. </p>
<h2>Opportunities and experiences</h2>
<p>In Zambia, as with sport for development and peace initiatives elsewhere, sport’s key contribution is to provide the context within which a range of development issues can be addressed. <a href="http://www.kickingaidsout.net/Documents/Kicking%20AIDS%20Out%20Through%20Movement%20Games%20and%20Sport%20Activites%20by%20Oscar%20Mwanga.pdf">Adapted sporting activities and practices</a> encourage active learning and peer-led discussions on key development issues such as HIV/AIDS. Specific female empowerment programmes are also organised to challenge traditional gender stereotypes through female participation in football, promote local female role models, and offer educational scholarships for female peer leaders.</p>
<p>Our research focused on the work of two non-governmental organisations: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sportinactionhome/">Sport in Action</a> and <a href="http://www.edusport.org.zm/">EduSport</a>. They work in communities across Zambia and especially in the capital city, Lusaka. Their activities engage boys and girls from primary school age right through to young adulthood.</p>
<p>We spoke to many young Zambians involved in the projects. Their enthusiasm for simply participating in sport stood out – there were few other positive recreational opportunities available in their communities. For some, getting involved in the projects gave a focus to otherwise unstructured lives and enabled a feeling of belonging. One young woman told us:</p>
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<p>The friendship and being part of a team is very important. If it wasn’t for sport I wouldn’t have met so many girls, who I now consider are my extended family, and that has been very important. We share our differences and learn from one another.</p>
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<p>The projects also gave young people a safe, more open space to learn about things like HIV/AIDS. They found the sporting context very different to their experiences in formal settings, such as in school and in church. The non-authoritative settings allowed them to speak more freely to adults – and to <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13573322.2011.579093">support each other</a> in coping with situations that put them at risk of infection.</p>
<p>Many of the young women were participating in sport despite initial resistance from their families and communities. Although they became more confident, empowerment on the sports field didn’t necessarily transfer to their wider lives. As one young woman put it:</p>
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<p>I play football and I feel strong and we are showing those in our community then we can do the things that men do….but men do not include us in community matters, we still have no say in what happens. It is changing a little but very slowly.</p>
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<p>Both organisations had also selected and trained committed participants to take on positions of responsibility. They became peer leaders, acting as coaches, educators and organisers. They were volunteers and were motivated by helping to improve their communities.</p>
<p>The peer leaders developed skills, confidence and gained valuable experience. But they, like the young people they were mentoring, struggled to translate these benefits into their everyday lives. <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.1524.ZS">Youth unemployment rates</a> are at 25% in Zambia, and the peer leaders’ skills didn’t help them to achieve their goal of finding regular, paid work.</p>
<h2>Local matters</h2>
<p>There’s one area in which the Zambian projects really stand out: they have adopted a locally-orientated ethos that strengthens community bonds amongst young people, while simultaneously trying to challenge regressive social norms.</p>
<p>Though social change may come slowly, a localised approach seems the right way to spark it. Young people recognise the social problems they face in their own communities, and through supportive projects can work together to attempt to address them. Other sport for development and peace organisations should be encouraged to adopt a similarly localised approach in their work.</p>
<p>In this way, sport really can keep changing lives – and contribute to nations’ sustainable development in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75711/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iain Lindsey receives funding from the Commonwealth Secretariat, Leverhulme Trust and UK Sport. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Davies Banda receives funding from the British Council, Department for International Development and UK Sport. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Jeanes receives funding from UK Sport, the British Council, UNICEF, and the Department for International Development</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tess Kay receives funding from UK Sport, the British Council, UNICEF, the Department for International Development and the Commonwealth Secretariat</span></em></p>Getting involved in sports-based projects offers young Zambians a sense of community and helps them to build new support systems.Iain Lindsey, Lecturer in Sport Policy and Development, Durham UniversityDavies Banda, Senior Teaching Fellow in Sport Policy, The University of EdinburghRuth Jeanes, Senior Lecturer Sport and community development, Monash UniversityTess Kay, Professor of Sport and Social Sciences, Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/323582014-10-08T19:08:06Z2014-10-08T19:08:06ZGender segregation in e-sports is indefensible – and yet …<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60968/original/wwr4kr8b-1412640749.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What if a new competitive sport came along where physiological differences were virtually irrelevant to contest outcomes?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">goInternationalgroup/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You likely couldn’t outswim <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Coutts">Alicia Coutts</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Thorpe">Ian Thorpe</a>, or lift half of what <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damon_Kelly">Damon Kelly</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seen_Lee">Seen Lee</a> can, but I bet you could beat them at a videogame.</p>
<p>Welcome to e-sports, the future of competitions where size, shape, or even gender no longer matters. Or at least, it shouldn’t. </p>
<p>In July, the International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) came under <a href="http://au.ign.com/articles/2014/07/02/no-women-allowed-at-upcoming-hearthstone-tournament">intense scrutiny</a> – and <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/2/5864103/hearthstone-tournament-women-gender-segregation-blizzard">criticism</a> – for its segregation of female competitors. Players argued that gender held no importance in a digital competition and, more importantly, that there were no “boy” or “girl” games. </p>
<p>But, in a sport dominated by men, what should the federation do to ensure that the number of professional female gamers grows as videogames increase in popularity? </p>
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<span class="caption">The Malaysian team at the Electronic Sports World Cup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">gointernationalgroup.com</span></span>
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<p>E-sports are competitive videogame competitions in which players compete on the digital battlefield. The <a href="http://ie-sf.com/en/about/introduction.php">mandate</a> of the IeSF is to legitimise video game competitions as a “true sport beyond language, race and culture barriers”. </p>
<p>The IeSF’s first decision to ensure legitimacy as a sport was to segregate men and women in competitions. How else, they argued, would the sporting world take them seriously if they allowed men and women to compete against one another? To make matters worse, men and women wouldn’t play the same games. </p>
<p>But why is segregation synonymous with serious sporting endeavours? Let’s examine some of the differences between men and women.</p>
<h2>Evolutionary advantage</h2>
<p>When looking at the average male and female human body, we immediately notice differences in body shape, the placement of fat reserves, and overall muscle-mass. What can this this tell us about our evolutionary history and what shaped the sex differences on our bodies? </p>
<p>Unfortunately, very little, but when compared to other species, we can gain some interesting insight. </p>
<p>In many mammals, while males are more ornamented, females are larger because they bear the costs of rearing offspring, and larger females can carry greater energy reserves. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60961/original/n2gmyt7j-1412637597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60961/original/n2gmyt7j-1412637597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60961/original/n2gmyt7j-1412637597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60961/original/n2gmyt7j-1412637597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60961/original/n2gmyt7j-1412637597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60961/original/n2gmyt7j-1412637597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60961/original/n2gmyt7j-1412637597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60961/original/n2gmyt7j-1412637597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Male elephant seals grow up to seven or eight times heavier than females.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joe McKenna/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>At the other extreme, we have species such as elephant seals and red deer whereby males compete intensely (and often fatally) for females. In such species, males are much larger and stronger than females. </p>
<p>Humans fall somewhere between these two extremes. The female body is a result of selection for optimal offspring care, but that included being mobile to be able to gather food. Men competed for access to resources, but competition also involved maintaining coalitions. As a result, we have relatively similar body shapes and sizes compared to other mammals. </p>
<p>But physiological and psychological studies add an interesting layer, highlighting differences in <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&uid=2004-21519-006">aggression</a> and <a href="http://www.academia.edu/310869/Reassessing_Male_Aggression_and_Dominance_The_Evidence_From_Primatology">dominance</a>. Thus, given both outward appearance and physiological differences, it’s not surprising we gender-segregate as these differences can result in unfair competitions. </p>
<p>But not all sporting outcomes are based solely on physical strength. In sports such as <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_equestrian">equestrian</a> where men and women compete together, women are just as likely to outcompete men.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61250/original/kgkct8jn-1412832413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61250/original/kgkct8jn-1412832413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61250/original/kgkct8jn-1412832413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61250/original/kgkct8jn-1412832413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61250/original/kgkct8jn-1412832413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61250/original/kgkct8jn-1412832413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61250/original/kgkct8jn-1412832413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61250/original/kgkct8jn-1412832413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 2014 Greek Equestrian Championship.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/NEWZULU/Nicolas Koutsokostas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What if a new competitive sport came along for which outward appearance and physiological differences were virtually irrelevant to contest outcomes? Where winning is instead determined by cognitive capacity and reaction time. </p>
<p>Should we still hang on to historical segregation?</p>
<p>Although there is evidence the brains of men and women differ in the <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/131122/ncomms3771/full/ncomms3771.html">genes that are expressed</a>, we have no idea what this means – if anything – in real-life cognitive performance.</p>
<p>Although <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0193397394900051">men outperform women in spatial tasks</a>, both sexes improve with practice and improvement is greater for those with <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0193397394900043">poorer spatial skills</a>. In fact, this gender difference disappears in just <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/18/10/850.abstract?ijkey=515f015c7c4091a31a61db33496c238653438df4&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha">ten hours of videogame training</a>.</p>
<p>And when it comes to reaction time, although <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724980443000232#.VDM-rBa1Ue0">men are faster, women are more consistent</a>, and videogame play also <a href="http://cdp.sagepub.com/content/18/6/321.short">improves reaction time performance</a>. </p>
<p>Now, let’s head back to the IeSF.</p>
<h2>The IeSF’s reaction</h2>
<p>The IeSF had an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/IeSFederation/posts/730656113657211">emergency meeting</a> to respond to the backlash against its decision to gender-segregate, but there was one enormous problem. Although men and women may not differ in cognitive ability, they differ in their participation – there are many more <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/27/5723446/women-in-esports-professional-gaming-riot-games-blizzard-starcraft-lol">male professional gamers</a>. </p>
<p>The IeSF argued this is a more insidious problem because the male-biased population leads to a <a href="http://thephoenix.com/Boston/recroom/145892-one-womans-battle-against-the-anxious-masculinity/">boys only</a> mentality.</p>
<p>This idea is confirmed by the sexist arguments of a subset of gamers over the past few months in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gamergate">#gamergate</a> controversy and overall <a href="https://theconversation.com/vitriolic-abuse-of-anita-sarkeesian-why-the-games-industry-needs-her-31826">treatment of outspoken women</a> in the gaming community, such as Anita Sarkeesian. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61112/original/tjqtft8y-1412734540.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61112/original/tjqtft8y-1412734540.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61112/original/tjqtft8y-1412734540.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61112/original/tjqtft8y-1412734540.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61112/original/tjqtft8y-1412734540.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61112/original/tjqtft8y-1412734540.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61112/original/tjqtft8y-1412734540.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61112/original/tjqtft8y-1412734540.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Feminist gaming critic Anita Sarkeesian.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anita Sarkeesian</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So how could the IeSF ensure women are comfortable in a male-dominated environment?</p>
<p>Its answer was to <a href="http://www.pcgamer.com/iesf-removes-male-only-restriction-from-its-e-sports-tournaments/">open up</a> the competition to all genders, but also maintain a female-only competition. </p>
<p>This, they argued, would allow women to compete against men if they wanted to, but also provide a comfortable atmosphere for women in the hope of increasing the number of professional female gamers. Once this population increased, segregation would no longer be necessary.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there are two problems with this response. </p>
<h2>Fair play for all</h2>
<p>First, players in female-only competitions still compete in a <a href="http://www.pcgamer.com/iesf-removes-male-only-restriction-from-its-e-sports-tournaments/">different subset of games</a>. This suggests to women that not all games (and gamers) are equal. Moreover, when they feel comfortable enough, they can shift over and play more masculine games. </p>
<p>But switching games would be like switching sports, and you don’t see professional players doing this successfully (yes, I’m talking about you <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/24/entertainment/la-et-0824-jordan-espn-20100824">Michael Jordan</a>). That’s because a different subset of skills are required to succeed. Professional video gaming is no different.</p>
<p>Second, it brushes the problem under the rug, implying there is nothing else they can do until women take gaming into their own hands. </p>
<p>Regardless, videogame competitions have a massive future – viewership of professional gaming grew <a href="http://www.majorleaguegaming.com/news/mlg-2012-season-generates-334-growth-in-live-online-viewers">334% in 2012</a>. The <a href="http://www.esportsearnings.com/tournaments/6418-the-international-2014">DOTA 2 International 2014 </a> now offers just shy of US$11 million in prize money, with first-place alone garnering more than US$5 million. So whether you consider videogaming as a legitimate sport or not is almost irrelevant.</p>
<p>Rather than seeking legitimacy by enforcing historical segregation, the IeSF should truly embrace its mandate and provide completely equal gaming spaces.</p>
<p>It is heading in the right direction, and if it continues doing so, the IeSF could be leading all sports in the recognition that all individuals, no matter their race, culture or gender, should have the right to compete against one another.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32358/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Kasumovic receives funding from the Australian Research Council for his evolutionary research. </span></em></p>You likely couldn’t outswim Alicia Coutts or Ian Thorpe, or lift half of what Damon Kelly or Seen Lee can, but I bet you could beat them at a videogame. Welcome to e-sports, the future of competitions…Michael Kasumovic, Lecturer, ARC DECRA Fellow, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/225332014-02-12T19:32:41Z2014-02-12T19:32:41ZMore than a game: how attached are we to our teams?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40407/original/k2n7p6ff-1391399500.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sport is often compared with religion in Australia. But how do fans' relationships with their football teams manifest?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Joe Castro</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At some point, you’ve no doubt heard someone say “football is my religion”. And if we follow French sociologist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Durkheim">Emile Durkheim’s</a> famous <a href="https://archive.org/details/elementaryformso00durkrich">building blocks for religion</a>, we will find that football is not far from religion at all.</p>
<p>There are flags symbolising unity in the followers, the collective cheers and groans as the game proceeds, the adorning of the symbols of the team you support, and the inevitable fact that we will do it all again next weekend, next month and perhaps for the rest of our lives. </p>
<p>It was in this context that we set out to uncover the relationship that Australians have with football, how the relationship with the teams we support (and their symbols) compares with those of people from other countries, and how we choose to court our relationship with our teams.</p>
<h2>The shirt</h2>
<p>Our initial study set out to discover how we engage in the following of our football teams through the “shirt” or “jersey”.</p>
<p>While it is true that through the professionalisation of football codes the shirt is yet another form of commodity that is packaged and sold to fans, some suggest that the jersey is a battleground where supporters can contest <a href="http://tcs.sagepub.com/content/25/1/49.extract">“authenticity”</a>: that is, how true a fan they are. </p>
<p>There have certainly been cases, specifically in the United Kingdom, where fans have used the shirt to display both their genuine relationship to the club by wearing nostalgic colours and acts of defiance against commodification of their <a href="http://eprints.qut.edu.au/48546/1/">beloved club</a></p>
<p>However, just how important is the shirt? In an online survey of 193 football fans from across codes (AFL, soccer, rugby union and rugby league) and even continents (mostly Europe and Australia), we discovered that while many owned the shirt (139, or 72%), most did not place significant importance on “owning the shirt” as a fan. </p>
<p>On a scale from one to nine (one being not very important, five being somewhat important, nine being very important), 30% of respondents said it was not very important, while 71% scored five or less. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40413/original/2r6gtz82-1391402266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40413/original/2r6gtz82-1391402266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40413/original/2r6gtz82-1391402266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40413/original/2r6gtz82-1391402266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40413/original/2r6gtz82-1391402266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40413/original/2r6gtz82-1391402266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40413/original/2r6gtz82-1391402266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While most football fans own shirts, they do not see it as signifying great importance in being a ‘fan’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dean Lewins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even less emphasis was placed on adorning shirts with player numbers and special badges: 45% of fans said it was not very important and 86% scored five or less. </p>
<p>Interestingly, when comparing codes (AFL versus soccer, for example), the difference between scores is not significant, indicating that fans across codes do not see owning the shirt as a symbol of importance in being a “fan”. </p>
<p>An odd – and noteworthy – finding showed that people who were willing to frequently wear their team’s jersey when they went out (for a meal or to see a movie, for example) felt more attached to their jersey than those who did so less often, or not at all.</p>
<h2>International differences?</h2>
<p>As we delved deeper into the data we began to notice differences between codes and, more specifically, nations. </p>
<p>Using the same one-to-nine scale mentioned above, we asked respondents to nominate how attached they felt to their respective clubs. From their responses we were able to see that there was really no difference in attachment between fans of AFL, soccer, rugby league and rugby union, with each fan rating their attachment as approximately eight (close to “very attached”). </p>
<p>However, when comparing country of residence, we discovered some differences between nations. For instance, Australians, with a median score of eight, were less attached to their football teams than Europeans, who scored a median of nine.</p>
<p>Why this is the case is difficult to say. Perhaps the attachment to club is greater in places where football teams do not need to jockey for attention, such as in the United Kingdom, where one team or one sport dominates major population centres such as London, Manchester and Newcastle. </p>
<p>Oddly, people from England and France are likely to be less attached to their jersey than fans from Australia. In Australia, football itself is a diverse and divisive term that many will argue about for hours, including arguing over which is the better code.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40415/original/xfxwcjky-1391402691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40415/original/xfxwcjky-1391402691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40415/original/xfxwcjky-1391402691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40415/original/xfxwcjky-1391402691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40415/original/xfxwcjky-1391402691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40415/original/xfxwcjky-1391402691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40415/original/xfxwcjky-1391402691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australians are seemingly less attached to their sporting teams than Europeans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/David Crosling</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The impact of social media</h2>
<p>One of the other interesting discoveries we made was regarding the use and uptake of social media as a way to perform a type of football punditry with like-minded fans. Social media, especially for soccer, has become a major contributor to the game itself. Most codes now market hashtags for specific games where tweeters can get their opinions read out between halves on radio or television.</p>
<p>The advent of Web 2.0 also means that after games, when paid pundits place their thoughts in online environments, eager armchair critics can debate with each other long after the final whistle has blown. In our survey, 126 fans, or 65.3%, belonged to some sort of social media group that was related to the team they supported. The average time these people spent on these forums per week was 1.66 hours. </p>
<p>However, when comparing codes, we found that AFL fans spend far less time (a median of 1.06 hours) than soccer fans (a median of 2.58 hours) on their respective social media sites. This is perhaps indicative of how advanced into the digital age soccer has become, especially the major competitions (for example, the English Premier League). Or, perhaps soccer fans are just more likely to banter online afterwards. </p>
<p>A final finding worth mentioning was that people who belong to a social media group were more likely to be attached to their team’s jersey than were people who do not belong to such a group.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>At some point, you’ve no doubt heard someone say “football is my religion”. And if we follow French sociologist Emile Durkheim’s famous building blocks for religion, we will find that football is not far…Nick Osbaldiston, Lecturer in Sociology, Federation University AustraliaGeorge Van Doorn, Lecturer in Psychology, Federation University AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/223692014-02-11T05:50:32Z2014-02-11T05:50:32ZSuccess at Sochi will restore pride to Russia’s self-image<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41175/original/943msv4f-1392054854.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Putin leads Russia by sporting example.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Borodun</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The image of a <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/26/vladimir-putin-flees-controversy-goes-on-shirtless-fishing-trip-with-prime-minister-dmitry-medvedev/">bare-chested</a> president Vladimir Putin sitting astride his horse or speeding down ski slopes is by now a familiar one. Not since Vladimir Ilyich Lenin himself has Russia had such a sports enthusiast as head of state. Putin’s passion for physical culture and sport is well publicised. And his <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/vladimir-putin/9927580/Vladimir-Putin-calls-for-revival-of-Soviet-era-physical-fitness-tests.html">zeal</a> stands in stark contrast to the gerontocracy that preceded him.</p>
<p>While Soviet leaders promoted mass participation in sport through the “Get Ready for Labour and Defence” scheme, sport in the 1980s and 1990s <a href="http://www.irsv.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=138%3Atotalitarianism-and-sport-in-russia&catid=64%3Anumero-6-sport-et-totalitarisme&lang=fr">lost its lustre</a>. A lack of will and funding marred its development. In more recent times a sense of national pride has returned to Russian sport, with success in ice hockey and football injecting a new confidence and patriotism into Russian sporting life. The awarding of the Sochi Olympics and the 2018 World Cup reaffirmed Russia’s return to the international sporting stage and it is hardly surprising that Putin is seizing the opportunity to promote Russia.</p>
<h2>Displays of unity</h2>
<p>Physical culture and sport was a keystone of Soviet life. Mass participation was promoted with schemes and competitions that encouraged healthy, collective activity. Showcase events such as parades were used to demonstrate the strength and vitality of the Soviet Union before domestic and international audiences.</p>
<p>Public sporting events also served Soviet nationalist ends. They became a way of cementing the “fraternity” of the Soviet republics (with Russians foremost among nations). The Soviet Union was, after all, “national in form, socialist in content”. But has this legacy of physical culture as a type of national glue been transposed onto Russia today?</p>
<p>While Russia has many hangovers from its Soviet past, physical culture and sport is not one of these. Today, physical culture and sport bear little resemblance to Soviet physical culture of the 1920s and beyond. This is largely because Russia itself has transformed in the past decade as it has come to embrace capitalism, globalisation and mass consumerism.</p>
<p>The Bolshevik project of the earlier era encapsulated a utopian vision of mass, collective participation in physical activity that was free of “negative” western competition and record-breaking. A concern for health and well-being spearheaded early physical culture campaigns. While this idealised interpretation was soon adjusted to incorporate sporting competition, the ideological baggage remained.</p>
<p>Record-breaking and competition was more than acceptable in the political context of the 1930s, but sport still had to conform to the ideology of collectivism. <a href="http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mdiaarchive/0522508.0012.001?node=0522508.0012.001:5&view=text&seq=33&size=100">Physical culture parades</a> and sport were also used to celebrate the Soviet Union’s diverse ethnic makeup. The different races of the empire marched alongside each other and the state’s broader socialist identity was celebrated.</p>
<p>Sport also allowed for greater militarisation in the 1930s. This aspect was strongly pursued as war with Nazi Germany loomed. Soviet patriots were readied to defend their socialist motherland against a fascist foe. By the post-war era, the Soviet Union, by now an emerging superpower, finally entered the international sporting arena proper through its participation in the Olympic Games in 1952. In the context of the Cold War its citizens had a new ideological enemy – the United States.</p>
<p>Soviet participation in the Olympic Games provided an ideal international arena to demonstrate Soviet superiority. The government could rally citizens behind an increasingly fractured union (the Hungarian and Czechoslovak uprisings in 1956 and 1968 being examples of this). In terms of inspiring a sense of unity and national cohesion, sport was and is again now important in Russia.</p>
<h2>Pride on the line</h2>
<p>Individual as well as national pride is at stake at international sporting events. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/mikhail-prokhorov/">Mikhail Prokhorov</a>, the billionaire and 2012 presidential candidate, also happens to be Russian biathlon federation president. Wealthy Russians and the state have been pouring money into these Olympics, making them the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/feb/05/sochi-games-olympic-extravagence-cost-winter-russia">most expensive Games in history</a>. </p>
<p>After Russia’s dismal performance in the Vancouver games, which saw Russia take its lowest-ever haul of medals, the pressure to do well is on. And, with the competition now underway, people are no doubt behind their national team. As with Soviet physical culture and sport, Russia will be keen to portray a positive image to the world on the snow and ice, as well as off it.</p>
<p>Some in Russia have hopes of topping the medals table at Sochi. The success of the Russian team will play an important role in continuing to restore feelings of national sporting pride among Russians who have, like their sports athletes, endured their fair share of difficulties since the fall of the Soviet Union.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22369/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Grant receives funding from the Irish Research Council for her current project on early Soviet nursing. She is a postdoctoral fellow at University College Dublin, where she is a member of the Centre for War Studies and Centre for the History of Medicine in Ireland. Her book, 'Physical Culture and Sport in Soviet Society: Propaganda, Acculturation, and Transformation in the 1920s and 1930s', was published with Routledge in 2013.</span></em></p>The image of a bare-chested president Vladimir Putin sitting astride his horse or speeding down ski slopes is by now a familiar one. Not since Vladimir Ilyich Lenin himself has Russia had such a sports…Susan Grant, IRC Cara Mobility Fellow, School of History & Archives, University College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/173002013-08-26T04:30:37Z2013-08-26T04:30:37ZMixing politics and play: Russian protests and sporting boycotts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29877/original/r4qd5qwr-1377478866.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">International protests against Russia's anti-gay laws are the latest in a long history of attempts to boycott international sporting events.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Gideon Markowicz</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The mantra that “sport and politics don’t mix” was always false and misleading, but in the age of Twitter it’s absurd.</p>
<p>Calling for boycotts of high-profile sporting events is an established political tactic among social movements. The most recent case concerns the <a href="http://www.sochi2014.com/en/">2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia</a> and the protest against new laws banning the “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among minors”, which effectively criminalise the discussion of homo-, bi- and trans-sexuality with anyone under 18. </p>
<p>The omnipresent British television personality Stephen Fry has been especially active on the subject, even <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/mediamonkeyblog/2013/aug/19/stephen-fry-david-cameron">meeting with prime minister David Cameron</a> in a London pub co-owned by revered actor and gay rights advocate Sir Ian McKellen. The campaign has received support from other prominent people, such as actor Rupert Everett, although a large-scale boycott is highly unlikely to eventuate.</p>
<p>Vladimir Putin has since <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23819104">signed a presidential decree</a> banning all “gatherings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets that are not related to the Olympics and Paralympics” from January 7 to March 21, 2014. Special controls are always introduced in mega sport event zones, but Putin’s suppression of any public assembly that is not part of the official Olympic show is clearly designed to stifle all local dissent concerning gay or any other rights.</p>
<p>It is easier to boycott a brand than an event, with the [Dump Russian Vodka campaign](http://www.stoli.com/#lgbt](http://www.stoli.com/#lgbt) causing the Stolichnaya CEO to condemn the laws in an open letter and its website to pledge support to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. </p>
<p>The International Olympic Committee (IOC) that awarded the games to Sochi and the principal Olympic broadcaster ABC have received similar pressure, including a <a href="http://www.athleteally.org/news/days-after-all-out-and-athelte-ally-deliver-petitions-ioc-asks-russia-clarify-ant-lgbt-law/">petition</a> from Athlete Ally and All Out urging:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…the International Olympic Committee and world leaders to call for the elimination of discriminatory laws that persecute the LGBT community.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29874/original/4q65rf3z-1377477805.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29874/original/4q65rf3z-1377477805.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29874/original/4q65rf3z-1377477805.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29874/original/4q65rf3z-1377477805.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29874/original/4q65rf3z-1377477805.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29874/original/4q65rf3z-1377477805.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29874/original/4q65rf3z-1377477805.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vladimir Putin has banned all demonstrations during the Olympics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Yuri Kochetkov </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Social movement mobilisation using the threat of a sporting boycott has a long, varied history. Despite urging, the 1936 Berlin “Nazi” Olympics was not boycotted by the major Olympic nations of the day; while a whole nation, South Africa, was boycotted by many sports and countries for over two decades during the apartheid era. This sporting sanction has been widely acknowledged as highly effective in isolating and weakening a racist regime.</p>
<p>Among the most contentious boycotts was promoted by the United States government and targeted the 1980 Moscow Olympics to protest against the invasion of Afghanistan. This prompted a retaliatory Eastern bloc no-show at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. </p>
<p>Since then, and especially following the advent of the internet, mega sport events have regularly attracted loud media-directed protests and threatened boycotts.</p>
<p>The reason for using sport as a focus for political action is fairly obvious. Hosting global sport spectacles like the Olympics and FIFA World Cup involves vast expense and an enormous exercise in image management. Cities and nations compete vigorously to secure the prize, and the competitors seek any advantage, including direct or implied accusations that a host is unworthy to receive the honour.</p>
<p>It is <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1993-09-24/news/mn-38501_1_beijing-s-olympic-committee">believed</a>, for example, that Australia narrowly defeated China in the 1993 ballot for the 2000 Olympics because some countries, with the orchestrated encouragement of the Australian bid team, were troubled by China’s human rights record.</p>
<p>Ironically, there were <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/aborigines-seek-olympics-boycott-1190052.html">concerns</a> that several African countries would, at the invitation of some of Australia’s aggrieved Indigenous people, boycott Sydney 2000. Also faced with a potential Aboriginal boycott – including <a href="http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1997/Aborigine-champion-rejects-call-to-boycott-Olympics/id-0dd143cda6dc6736a1815f3986ca38b3">calls</a> for figurehead Cathy Freeman to refuse to participate – the Sydney 2000 Olympic Bid Ltd put considerable effort into closely involving Aboriginal people in the Cultural Olympiad, the lighting of the cauldron, and in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29814/original/syvpsqcs-1377241582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29814/original/syvpsqcs-1377241582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29814/original/syvpsqcs-1377241582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29814/original/syvpsqcs-1377241582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29814/original/syvpsqcs-1377241582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29814/original/syvpsqcs-1377241582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29814/original/syvpsqcs-1377241582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Dump Russian Vodka campaign prompted Stolichnaya’s CEO to condemn the anti-gay laws.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Justin Lane </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Having learnt a bitter lesson, China left nothing to chance when next bidding for the Games in 2001, hiring Western public relations companies to soften its image. Having won the bid, however, China then saw worldwide protests and demands to boycott Beijing 2008, culminating in the nightly news fiasco of the Torch Relay passing through Europe and North America surrounded by heavy security and jeering crowds. </p>
<p>In neither case did a boycott ensue, but its threat is always potent because mega sport events depend on the sustained projection of universal human amity that, however flawed, cannot allow the illusion to be shattered by pointed absences. When these holes in the global sporting fabric occur, instead of highlighting the host’s advantages and positive accomplishments, unwelcome attention turns to their blemishes and failures.</p>
<p>Because such image battles are fought in the media, and mega sport is nothing if not a media spectacle, boycott calls are never far away. This technique turns the attention-seeking rationale of global sport event impression management against itself. Hence, in recent times there have been attempts to boycott:</p>
<ul>
<li>the Euro 2012 football championship over political repression in co-host Ukraine</li>
<li>the London 2012 Games because of “NATO war crimes” in Iraq and Afghanistan</li>
<li>the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympics in Brazil because of corruption and mass evictions</li>
<li>the 2018 Russia and 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cups over gay rights.</li>
</ul>
<p>There are many other examples. </p>
<p>With Australia hosting the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, and Australasia the ICC World Cup in the same year, it can be predicted safely that boycott calls will ensue over issues such as the treatment of asylum seekers.</p>
<p>Sport and politics don’t just mix – they’re married with children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/17300/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rowe is currently receiving ARC funding for A Nation of ‘Good Sports’? Cultural Citizenship and Sport in Contemporary Australia (DP130104502).</span></em></p>The mantra that “sport and politics don’t mix” was always false and misleading, but in the age of Twitter it’s absurd. Calling for boycotts of high-profile sporting events is an established political tactic…David Rowe, Professor of Cultural Research, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/146372013-06-17T20:33:52Z2013-06-17T20:33:52ZAussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi: why do we love sport so much?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/25556/original/s2x8j9pj-1371188842.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C372%2C3892%2C2214&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is sport the last remaining institution of faith in Australian society?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sascha Wenninger</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australians have a remarkable affection for their sport, an affection which has endured for well over 150 years. They love the sports they play but, even more so, they love the sports they watch – both in large numbers at the grounds or via broadcast. This enduring love extends to all codes, particularly Australian rules and rugby league.</p>
<p>What binds Australians so closely to their AFL and NRL teams? Why do these institutions remain so popular – cherished, even – when levels of participation and interest in our churches and our politics have slipped considerably over recent decades?</p>
<p>The main reason is that the two football codes continue to offer a sense of shared identity to their followers, one that churches and political parties do not. When Australians identify with a football club, they enjoy a strong feeling of belonging outside of their families and their places of work (which, after all, are not voluntary in the way football is voluntary).</p>
<p>A shared sense of identity is what foundational sociologist <a href="http://durkheim.uchicago.edu/Biography.html">Emile Durkheim</a> considered to be the basis of all societies, large and small. Identifying with others through beliefs and rituals, he thought, is what makes societies strong. Conversely, if people lose their sense of commitment to the communal aspects of their lives, Durkheim was convinced they and their societies would fall into a state of despair, for which he used the word <a href="http://criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/week8.htm">“anomie”</a>. </p>
<p>One of Durkheim’s most insightful 21st century followers, the American scholar Robert Putnam, has come up with a magnetic catch phrase for what he sees as the spread of anomie today in many parts of his own country – <a href="http://bowlingalone.com/">“bowling alone”</a>. </p>
<p>In a book with this title, Putnam suggests that when activities which deliver a shared sense of identity, like communal bowling, are allowed to fade into inconsequence or oblivion, they are replaced only with individualistic pursuits. It is not just the local area that suffers: it is as if the national spirit takes a hit.</p>
<p>For Australians, footy might well be an inoculation against anomie.</p>
<p>As well as identifying with a club, Australians identify with other fans, and with the media outlets that feed them their daily fix of information or gossip (for many this fix might now be hourly). They even seem to identify with the codes themselves. They may well be suspicious of the empire builders at AFL House at the Docklands and at NRL HQ in Moore Park, but even so they remain loyal to “their game”.</p>
<p>Most of all they identify with the players. Players are granted the status of dear friends unmet, or even family members who are loved despite not visiting. This is why diehard fans aren’t keen on players who switch teams without a good reason. That is a reason the fans can understand. Such reasons can include money or family location, but woe betide any “deserting” player who lets it be known he is leaving because he doesn’t like it “here” and feels no sense of loyalty to the place.</p>
<p>It’s also the reason, I suggest, most fans are not buying into the indignation some media commentators are working up about the use of supposed “performance enhancing” drugs at some clubs. It’s not that the fans approve of the use of such substances; they don’t, especially where they are shown to be dangerous to the players’ health. </p>
<p>But they are offended by the idea that “their” players might be very severely punished simply for following the instructions of authority figures at their clubs, something the fans (and the clubs) normally regard as a vital component of doing well. These proposed severe punishments thus seem “un-Australian” in most fans’ view and not at all a “fair go”. </p>
<p>Just as they would accept with equanimity their teenager being given a minor punishment by the school principal for smoking but be outraged if the kid were handed a two year suspension, so to they are outraged by the idea of a two year suspension for players who simply followed instruction.</p>
<p>This brings us to another important reason behind Australians’ deep commitment to their codes and clubs. Football allows them the chance to dance with the universe, as it were, to revel in the occasions when the gods deliver them justice and victory and to wallow in the misery of injustice and defeat.</p>
<p>Injustice and defeat are two qualities many footy followers regard as inseparable twins. In this way, few defeats are “just” in the minds of true believers, mainly because these believers would have to turn on their own if they have to deal with too many “just defeats”, having nothing else left to blame but the players. </p>
<p>This is something they are not keen to do. But they have demonstrated often enough that they will do it if they feel they have been humiliated by the universe in the eyes of rival fans - or even just in their own eyes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/14637/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gary Wickham does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australians have a remarkable affection for their sport, an affection which has endured for well over 150 years. They love the sports they play but, even more so, they love the sports they watch – both…Gary Wickham, Professor of Sociology, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.